Board reposts bully video minus F-word

Anti-bully video

They say loose lips sink ships.
What do loose-lipped lip syncs sink?
How about a YouTube video?
That’s what happened this weekend when a popular video produced by students at St. Augustine Catholic High School in Markham was quickly yanked offline when someone noticed an offensive word in the lip-synced lyrics.
The words to Some Nights, by Fun, seemed to work well with the school’s anti-bully themed video that earned praise from across the region – until someone at the school board noticed a word that wasn’t exactly up to the Catholic system’s standards.
The profanity had to be removed, vice-principal Ray Lefaive said.
“We’re a Catholic system. We just can’t do that kind of thing,” he said. “The kids were really disappointed.”
The “lip dub” video was one of 15 presented at the York District Catholic School Board’s Desire for Change symposium last Thursday. It tells the story of a boy who was bullied at one school who transfers to St. Augustine where he is welcomed with open arms, song and dance.
The pop song and the student symposium both shared the same goal of battling against injustice, but pop culture and the Catholic school system don’t, apparently, share the same acceptance of the ‘f’ word.
A school board staff member with technical expertise was able “do some fancy footwork” and erase the word, Mr. Lefaive said, and the video was reposted yesterday afternoon.
The fact that so many watched, and praised, the video without noticing the word is an indication of how mainstream the profanity has become, Mr. Lefaive said.
“I think if you’re under 30, it’s just part of the lexicon of life now,” he said, adding the separate school system has to be sensitive, and strict, with what words are allowed.